Portable air conditioner

BRO · Newbie

Portable air conditioner

macka17 · Guru

Depends on area.
Down South Evap cooler fine.
Up North Proper Air conds only.

Most just use a fan and have door open.
with that size van.

Mobiles start around $350 and go up.

CC Bear · Senior Member

Welcome to th forum but what do you mean by a portable aircon, please ask the correct question.

-- Edited by CC Bear on Tuesday 18th of October 2016 10:19:52 PM

DeBe · Guru

Portable refrigerated airconditioners are not very efficient. I fited a small aircon in one of the front windows of my small 12Ft van. It works great even in the high 40s, & will run of a 1Kv generator.

-- Edited by DeBe on Tuesday 18th of October 2016 10:25:24 PM

hako · Guru

We installed a small box type airconditioner to our Avan Cruiser and whilst it works good when needed I really think I may have been better trying one of the portable units the OP mentions. They have an advantage in-as-much as they can be 'left behind' in winter when not required so you are not carry that extra weight/bulk plus there is no installation and if not thought to be worth it just resell it. You do need to figure out where to place the hot air exhaust however which sometimes needs a bit of ingenuity but once that is figured out they should be as efficient as any refrigerated airconditioner - mechanically and operationally they are identical.
Second hand ones appear on Gumtree regularly for $100 or so.

Good Luck.,

DeBe · Guru

Where they are not efficient is that they are pumping some of your cold air out of the exhaust pipe. Ive repaired a couple of those units & was quite surprised that this is how they work.

terrola · Veteran Member

i have a 16 ft van with a space at end of cupboard so i was able to fit a portable refrigerated air conditioner bought from harvey norman around $500 all i hand to do is cut a 5 inch hole in floor for the exhaust hose takes 2 mins to move out an fit the hose and it is great best money i have spent on van

adreamer · Senior Member

Watch some video's on u tube - mainly american but might give you some ideas.

Helen

yogi · Veteran Member

he did

LLD · Senior Member

Not sure if there is such an item as a portable air conditioner ie heat pump type as per the 240v fixed to the van and you must keep the doors/windows closed. Portable ones are general evaporative coolers that require water (as per on my house) and you must leave the doors/windows open.

Just bought one if these. transcool.info/

Don't know if I've wasted my money or not. Impulse buying at Sandown a few weeks ago. Read the pros and cons. It's effectively a coolgardie safe - or draping a wet cloth over a fan. Testing last week suggests it's more effective than the cloth & fan.

CC Bear · Senior Member

Reason why I asked what he means by portable AC is the fact there are many types available.

I will be removing the fridge and installing this one in the van. I think it runs on 1350 w but works well on our 2 Kva inverter gen set. Will use the fridge in the tug as I do not have to worry about changing over power supplies. Use the same as we use the units at home, on for cooling so we can go to sleep in comfort, turn off once van is cool. Should not take long to cool the van down.

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

There are quite a few portable refrigerated units on the market, don't carry them laying down, or the oil in the compressor ends up in places it shouldn't be and takes a long while to drain back to the compressor.
Cheers
David

Seahorse · Newbie

I bought a 4.5kw portable air couple weeks ago. I havnt taken it away but tro d it out in camper it was 30 deg outside and worked very good.

See how it goes over xmas but i think it will be good.

-- Edited by Webmaster on Thursday 20th of October 2016 10:22:47 AM

Noggins · Member

With our last van , an 18'Viscount Pop Top, I carried a portable A/C in the summer months.( still use it here in my ''office - cave '' )
I made a vent extension that fitted into one of the zip up openings in the pop top and has polystyrene panels that fitted neatly between the roof and the main frame with small windows cut out on them for ventilation, light etc.

I sealed the edges of the panels with white tape and painted them with plastic paint to stop them from getting destroyed in transit.

By sealing the heat loss from the poptop gland it made the van quite comfortable in a 40deg day here in WA.

I raised the A/C up on a box frame and fitted a drip tray / container under it to catch the water coming from it , surprising how much water comes out on a humid day.

I figured with the usual half hearted manufactures sealing of the vans that the loss of air thru the system wasn't a great worry 'cos the colder it got in the van the better it worked.

It ran easily on my 2Kva genni when not at a powered site .

CC Bear · Senior Member

For those interested next Wednesday Aldi has a small portable cooling only AC unit at $379.

Krusty · Senior Member

The new "Zero Breeze" that's coming onto the market next year looks interesting ð³